Kokoro Quest
by Mr.Kai-san
Summary: Is that chocolate? Please don't make fun of it, Kagurachan. It's good comfort food. What is the Belt of Kokoro, you say?  Why is Prince Daiki munching on chocolate? Find out here!


Kokoro Quest 1: Chapter 1 retold and translated by Mr.Kai

Introduction:

In this pile of text, you will find that this story is a cross between "Deltora Quest" (a personally favorite book series of mine), and my self created manga, "Kokoro no Kizu", also known as HeartScar. You won't find this title anywhere because it does not yet exist in America, nor Japan. Just be aware that I'm using most of the Deltora Quest storyline (1st volume: The Forests of Silence). It does seem kind of boring at first, but no matter…please enjoy! (starvingly eats comfort food) And I'm terribly sorry that I didn't pick the correct theme for this story. It's FanFiction's fault they didn't have Kokoro no Kizu listed. Cardcaptor Sakura was an old favorite of mine and it seems to be pretty popular, so I'm very very very very sorry for the inconvenience.

Kagura gazed at the Prince Daiki, who was walking down the palace's main staircase to the previous king's, his father's, throne. The King of Kokoro had just died from a severe fever, and therefore Prince Daiki was no longer Prince, but now the new King.

'Poor, poor Daiki', Kagura thought, 'His face is so pale…' He was recently notified of this passing. His mother had died the same way not long from his father…about a couple weeks ago. Some rumors even say they might have been murdered…? Nonsense! Who would want to murder the King, Queen, and even…Prince?!

'To suffer the loss of his family in such short notice…I really feel bad for him,' Kagura thought as a tear streaked down her soft longing face. Kagura and Daiki were not the only ones grieving, though, there was a huge palace gathering. Surely the ceremony would begin soon.

Kagura was the eldest daughter of three children, given birth by a loyal servant to the old king. Her mother had long died after having Akira, the youngest daughter. Yoji was the middle son, his age not that much distanced from Kagura's, compared to the little midget Akira. All were to be the Prince Daiki's friends, for royalty always sometimes gets lonely. Kagura, being the same age as Daiki, was indeed the very closest to him. When they were still young, they played tricks and hid from their boring chief advisers, Rosette and Chitose, forced the cooks give them tasty treats, and did many fun, daring things. Yoji and Akira would sometimes jump in to play with us too, but they usually had more chores to do, unlike Kagura, who was treated as equal as the king itself.

Wearing beautifully bright silk, eating everyday in banquets…royal life was full of luxury. It would even be a wonderful life for someone who was a slave in the palace. The only depressing thing was that no one living in the palace was allowed to go past the gates, which were fixed in front of the palace doors. How Kagura and Daiki longed to get out to the beautiful city, to chat with the townspeople, to be free outside the gates, for Rosette, the stiffest-looking chief adviser, told them much about the dazzling city and its cheery citizens.

Kagura snapped out of daydreaming when Rosette and Chitose started to quiet everyone down.

"Prince Daiki shall be crowned the rightful King of Kokoro," bellowed Rosette, "and now the ceremony has begun for our new king!" Chitose was running through the crowd, holding up a lavishly painted wooden sign with bolded words 'Shut up, _you_!!!', and on the back were the versions of "shut up, you" in different various languages. She carelessly tripped over someone's shoe, then scrambled back up next to where Rosette stood, clearly embarrassed. Snickering silently, Kagura noticed a skinny glass case on a small table near the throne. Blushing pure scarlet, Chitose opened the case, and carefully took what looked like a belt of seven beautiful steel medallions, each embedded with a glistening gem. Kagura was told of this magical belt before. It was called The Belt of Kokoro. The belt was only worn by a new king, or heir of the previous king. No one else could make use its true powers. The gems—an amethyst, a topaz, a diamond, a ruby, an opal, a lapis lazuli, and an emerald—each had their own unique magic.

"But he is so young!" Akira whispered excitedly between Kagura and Yoji.

"Don't push it," replied Yoji, "You're tiny, too!"

"Yoji…Akira..!!" Kagura said as she nudged Yoji, "look—" She was cut off by a blinding light. The light had finally dimmed back to normal, and Daiki was now wearing the Belt of Kokoro around his waist. It seemed as if the light had filled the whole palace, since everyone was worrying about eye care after that moment. Chitose unfastened the belt and put it back in the case, then was quickly stowed away by palace guards. It would be locked up in the tallest tower, locked by three hard, 24-K golden combination locks, and guarded by three palace guards.

Kagura sighed deeply. Now that the "ceremony" was over, Daiki had to go into the dungeon chambers where his father's body was held, and mourn for exactly 24 hours. No one was allowed to enter except for the king. Not even Rosette or Chitose.

'How lonely shall I be without Daiki-kun…,' Kagura thought, terribly disappointed.

"You know, Kagura-onee-sama," Yoji said as if he read her mind, "Twenty-four hours isn't that long. You can hang out with me and Akira for the day."

"Eh? Thanks. You wanna check out the library? I'm sure Akira would like that."

"Really…?" Yoji said suspiciously. He knew that Kagura never liked education, especially reading or studying. The library was the place he least expected her to go, especially at a time like this. Akira, on the other hand, was a total bookworm, and was the smartest of the three, even as the youngest. She would go to the library at least 5 times a day, borrowing and returning more and more books.

'It's not because I _want_ to study,' Kagura told herself as she marched up to the library, 'There's this strange feeling in which I _need_ to study…' To find out more about the Belt of Kokoro. To find out more about myself, Daiki, and the land of Kokoro…

Kagura pulled out a pale blue book from the bottom pile of old novels and folktales that were shoved into the library's dusty corners. Bull's-eye! On the cover was printed '_The Belt of Kokoro_'. Kagura read through the book. It was only a couple pages thick, but inside was packed with information.

"I see," Kagura read to herself, "So this guy made the Belt of Kokoro…and united the countries in Kokoro with the magical gems hidden in each village. He became king and overthrew the Shadow Lord with the power of the Belt, who retreated into the Shadowlands. Ever since then, the Belt maker's descendants who were crowned King or Queen of Kokoro had worn the Belt of Kokoro. But as time passed, the heir of each generation would wear the belt less and less, until the time came when each new king would only wear it once in their lifetime. Power has been drained from the new heirs and has lost control over the city. The Shadow Lord will come after the King's descendants one day, and they will fight, unarmed…!"

Kagura gasped in disbelief, after reading the passage from the book. She flipped the page and saw the description of the seven gem stones of the Belt of Kokoro. Then, suddenly, she saw a shadowed figure creep behind her.

"Kagura? It's so dark here," said Akira, apparently wandering around the library for an interesting book, "What could you possibly find in that stack of old out-dates?

"Oh, it's just you, Akira-chan," Kagura sighed, then said out loud to Akira what she was thinking, "Daiki probably doesn't know about this book or that he's in danger! This book was hidden well…probably by someone who is an underling of the Shadow Lord! We have to warn him. Now!"

"Uh…what?" Akira said blankly, as Kagura took her hand and searched for Yoji, "Are you bewitched?"

"No, I'm not!" Kagura replied impatiently, "Nii-chan, we have to get Daiki! I promise I'll explain everything later!" And so Yoji followed her, yet also bewildered by her abnormal actions.

Kagura banged open the dungeon doors, to find Daiki in a dark room, lit only by a few candlesticks, apparently crying over his father's corpse.

Absentmindedly, Kagura exclaimed, "Daiki-kun! There's something really important I have to tell—wait, hold on a sec!" Kagura's eyes narrowed as she stared at what was in Daiki's hands. "Is that…_chocolate_?"

"Please don't make fun if it, Kagura-chan. (munches on chocolate) It's good comfort food. (munch)," Daiki munched on wearily.

"Ehem. Kagura-onee-sama? Did you want to tell him something?" Yoji interrupted.

"Oh, yes!" Kagura remembered, "The Belt—"

The dungeon doors flew open again, and in came a furious Rosette, who was shaking her finger at the three siblings.

"You…! You who have violated the rule! Plus, you have interrupted King Daiki in an emotional stage. You three are deserved to suffer the death penalty!" screamed Rosette.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Mr. Kai-san's Closing:

Hey it's Mr. Kai here, reporting for duty! I'm just saying how proud I am to create my first FanFiction article. My friends tell me it's boring, and yes, I am hurt about that, but I still like it. Maybe I'm just guessing it's meant for oldies to read. (sigh) I put all my tears, sweat, and blood (probably from a nosebleed?) into everything, and it always comes up in ruins. Very scary thought if you ask me. I also wanted to put translation notes for people who don't know Japanese well, but I guess I was just too lazy. I've seen many people even use Japanese greetings and easy phrases in their FanFiction articles, and I gotta complain about it. I know you wanna sound cool, but you hafta face it, buddy. Half of your English-speaking readers won't understand what it means! Anyway, you'll have to wait for my second chapter of Kokoro Quest to come out. I'm definitely looking forward to it!!!

-Mr. Kai-san

Copyright2007 KaiShellfish&Co.


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